Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease mostly affecting the young women during their third-fourth decade of life. SLE is characterized by variable manifestations and, potentially, every organ can be involved. The course and the complexity of the disease, naturally appeal to manage patients with SLE at high qualified national referral centers. [1]
Despite the relevant burden associated with the disease, both from patient and physician point of view, epidemiological data on SLE in Italy are limited to isolated estimates, captured by different data sources [2-5]; however, no larger data on the prevalence of SLE at the referral centers in Italy are available to date.
This study aimed at estimating the prevalence of SLE at tertiary referral Italian centers, representative of the Italian scenario.
We conducted an observational, cross-sectional study on SLE patients followed by referral centers in district, representative of the North, Centre, South and Isles of Italy (Brescia, Padua, Udine, Ferrara, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Bari, Naples, Cagliari). Data from patients of both sexes and any age, and fulfilling the 2019 ACR/EULAR classification criteria, were obtained from hospital medicals records.
To estimate the prevalence, we reported the number of patients with SLE referring to the considered centers (numerator), over the total population resident in the included Italian districts (denominator), according to the Italian National Statistical Institute (ISTAT), responsible for the Italian general population censuses. For the analysis, we considered only complete data sent by January 13th, 2023. [7]
We identified 3251 patients with SLE followed at n° 9 referral centers included in this study. 1163/3251 patients (89.3%) were female, and 1302/3251 (40%) were residing in the districts of the referral centers. The estimated overall prevalence of SLE was 21.37 cases per 100,000 individuals.
As we stratified the results by geographical area (North, Centre, South and Islands) of Italy, the estimated prevalence ranged from 14.7 to 27.1 cases per 100,000 individuals. (Table 1)
Our study estimated the prevalence of SLE in multiple representative Italian referral centers. These preliminary results show for the first time the proportion of patients with SLE attending tertiary referral centers in Italy, suggesting a different distribution in diverse geographical areas of the country.
[1]Tsokos, N Engl J Med 2011
[2]Benucci, Med Sci Monit 2005
[3]Govoni, Lupus 2006
[4]Tsioni, Clin Exp Rheumatol 2015
[5]Zen, Rheumatology 2022
[6]Aringer, Arthritis Rheumatol 2019
[7]http://dati.istat.it/
We acknowledge Dr Ettore Silvagni, Dr Sebastiano Lorusso, Dr Augusta Ortolan, Dr Sara Ferrigno, Dr Marcella Prete, Dr Fabio Congiu for their help in data collection.
None Declared.
Table 1NorthCenterSouth and IslesOverallNumber of SLE patients followed at the referral centers involved in the study17288276963251Patients residing in the...

AB1632 PREVALENCE OF PATIENTS WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS AT THE REFERRAL CENTERS IN ITALY: A MULTICENTER STUDY

10.1136/annrheumdis-2023-eular.2713